I recently decided (Sept 2011) that it was time to lose a few pounds and discovered the FS App as a useful tool . I achieved my weight loss goal in about four months, dropping from 226 to 181.6, my current weight. As an experimentalist by profession, I hypothesized that if I were to eat only healthy whole foods, that my body would reach its own equilibrium weight and that I shouldn't spend too much time or effort deciding on an ideal weight, so long as the equilibrium weight placed me within the targeted BMI. I have found my hypothesis to be true and have maintained the 181.6 pounds since January 2012.

With regard to my diet, I have given up on wheat completely, little or no breads, no potatoes, no soft drinks, and limited dairy. I rarely eat packaged food products, as I now find almost anything with an ingredient label undesirable. I have no fear of healthy fats. I eat lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, salmon, grass feed beef, seafood, and bison. I drink only water and tea, mostly green teas.

I have enjoyed a good number of books on dieting over the past year that have contributed to my current perspective and outlook on diet. My favorite book on the subject of food and dieting to date is Wheat Belly, by Davis that I highly recommend. I also enjoyed the Blood Type diet books by D'Adamo but am concerned about diets that exclude foods that have obvious health benefits. I also enjoyed the Paleo Diet book by Cordain. Although not the first to recommend a diet that mimicked that of our earlier ancestors, he presented the information in a readable format.

I am currently reading a book entitled "Clean" to try to better understand the effect of environmental toxins on health. I am curious about how other factors aside from diet contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

I have just signed up for a new challenge to do 100 sit ups a day for 12 weeks. I'm not a fan of sit-ups but enjoyed the last challenge and will give this a try as well.